The Criminal Redemption by Ava Gray

The night Gifford Manor burned,

I learned what it means to lose everything— and everyone.

Six months later, I hunt ghosts across continents,

chasing whispers, bodies, and bank trails

that all lead to one name spoken like a curse.

Then I find him.

Cian Gifford. My forbidden Irish sin—

Alive. Scarred. Still capable of breaking me in a breath.

We don’t have the luxury of grief.

Not when someone is erasing empires.

Irish. Russian. Italian.

One by one, the underworld is bleeding out.

So we run together.

Hide together.

Burn for each other like we swore we never would.

Our vows are pretend.

Our enemies aren’t.

But the way I feel for him? Terrifyingly real.

His scars tell my secrets.

My heart hides one he’d burn the world for—

a truth that kicks beneath my ribs

and waits to break me in the end.

Because power always has a price.

And trust?

In our world, it’s the first casualty.

When the past claws back

and the enemy steps into the light,

I’ll face the one question that terrifies me more than death—

Not whether he’ll choose me…

but whether he’ll forgive me

for the one thing

I never meant to hide.